Patterk Netser is a Canadian

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

politician, who was the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Nanulik Nanulik was a territorial electoral district ( riding) for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada. The riding consisted of the communities of Coral Harbour and Chesterfield Inlet. Coral Harbour is now a part of the Aivilik riding and Chest ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Nunavut The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the legislative assembly for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The seat of the Assembly is the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit. Prior to the creation of Nunavut as a Canadian territory on ...

from 2003 to 2008, and was reelected to the legislature in 2017 to represent the new district of Aivilik. He was stripped of his ministerial portfolios after sharing his anti-

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

and anti-abortion views on Facebook in mid-to late 2020. Netser was born in

Coral Harbour, Nunavut Coral Harbour (Inuktitut: Salliq / Salliit, Syllabics: ᓴᓪᓕᖅ / ᓴᓪᓖᑦ, formerly Southampton Island) is a small Inuit community that is located on Southampton Island, Kivalliq Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Its name ...

. Prior to becoming an MLA, Netser was involved in local and territorial education as a member of the Coral Harbour District Education Authority and the regional education board. Nester was elected to the 1st Nunavut Legislature in a by-election in September 2003. During the fall sitting, the Assembly debated the proposed ''

Human Rights Act 2003 The ''Human Rights Act'' () is a law passed by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Legislature of the Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Nunavut, located in the Northern Canada, northern regions of Canada. The act is similar ...

''.

Sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

was one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the proposed act. Nestor opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation, and brought a motion to strike the category from the bill. The Assembly rejected his motion, with six in favour, nine opposed and one abstention. During the 5th Nunavut Legislature, Netser was named Minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation and

Nunavut Arctic College Nunavut Arctic College (, , Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Inirnirit Iliharviat'') is a public community college in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The college has several campuses throughout the territory and operates as a public agency (Crown co ...

. In early October 2020, Netser made a controversial Facebook post about abortion and the

movement. Shortly afterwards, Premier

Joe Savikataaq Joe Savikataaq (born ) is a Canadian politician who served as the fifth premier of Nunavut from 2018 to 2021. He was elected premier on June 14, 2018 by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, after his predecessor Paul Quassa lost a no-confiden ...

stripped Netser of all his portfolios. Due to Nunavut's non-partisan consensus government, the composition of Cabinet is determined by a vote of all members, and Netser was not formally removed from the Cabinet of Nunavut until October 23, 2020. Fourteen members voted for Netser's removal, three against (including Netser himself), and one abstaining. Three additional MLAs were not present at the sitting.

Federal politics

Netser is affiliated with the federal Conservative Party. He endorsed

Leslyn Lewis Leslyn Ann Lewis (born December 2, 1970) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Haldimand—Norfolk since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Lewis contested the party leadership in th ...

in the 2020 leadership election.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Inuit people Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit politicians 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut People from Coral Harbour Inuit from Nunavut {{Nunavut-politician-stub